Jesus Friend of Tax Collectors and Sinners - Matthew 11:16-19
16 “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
17 “‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”
Reflection: Today's text reminds me of the phrase you can't please all of the people all of the time. And I always add, you will probably die trying. Jesus uses this kind of logic to describe the generation of people he was called to. On the hand they discredited John the Baptist for his austere lifestyle, saying he has a demon. John abstained from drinking and gluttony and they held it against him. And Jesus befriended the drunkards and sinners and they held that against him. But at the end of the day Jesus proved that if you want to reach people you actually have to rub shoulders with them and possibly raise a pint with them.
The apostle Paul said the same thing following Christ's lead when he uttered, "I have become all things to all people so that I might win some." Gives new meaning to the term winsome doesn't it? This points out two things. One, someone people will be resistant to the Good News of Jesus no matter what you do. Oftentimes we spend so much time trying to convince them against their will, when there maybe many more around the corner who are just waiting to hear the message. Missionaries call this receptivity and Jesus talked about it as well in Parable of the soils.
Also Jesus' method of incarnating the Gospel shows us that we need to spend more time getting out on others turf instead of assuming they will come to ours. We need to get out into the world and without doing anything immoral or illegal make friends with sinners. Like the old saying goes people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. I find that if I am just open to being used by God all kinds of opportunities start popping up. How about you? Do you spend more time bemoaning how awful it is out there, or spend time looking for ways to be a friends of sinners.
Jesus thank you for showing us how to reaching out to the next generation to befriend them and show them the Father's love Amen.
17 “‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”
Reflection: Today's text reminds me of the phrase you can't please all of the people all of the time. And I always add, you will probably die trying. Jesus uses this kind of logic to describe the generation of people he was called to. On the hand they discredited John the Baptist for his austere lifestyle, saying he has a demon. John abstained from drinking and gluttony and they held it against him. And Jesus befriended the drunkards and sinners and they held that against him. But at the end of the day Jesus proved that if you want to reach people you actually have to rub shoulders with them and possibly raise a pint with them.
The apostle Paul said the same thing following Christ's lead when he uttered, "I have become all things to all people so that I might win some." Gives new meaning to the term winsome doesn't it? This points out two things. One, someone people will be resistant to the Good News of Jesus no matter what you do. Oftentimes we spend so much time trying to convince them against their will, when there maybe many more around the corner who are just waiting to hear the message. Missionaries call this receptivity and Jesus talked about it as well in Parable of the soils.
Also Jesus' method of incarnating the Gospel shows us that we need to spend more time getting out on others turf instead of assuming they will come to ours. We need to get out into the world and without doing anything immoral or illegal make friends with sinners. Like the old saying goes people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. I find that if I am just open to being used by God all kinds of opportunities start popping up. How about you? Do you spend more time bemoaning how awful it is out there, or spend time looking for ways to be a friends of sinners.
Jesus thank you for showing us how to reaching out to the next generation to befriend them and show them the Father's love Amen.
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